Showpiece fish

[BASwitzer]

Hello all, I'm new to the forums and relatively new to aquariums. I've been doing this for about 6 months now and upgraded from a 10 gallon tank to a 20 gallon tall tank a couple weeks ago. I'm wondering if I have any options in the new tank for adding a showpiece fish or any other fish. The tank is well on its way to being fully established courtesy of the substrate and filter media from my 10 gallon which was cycled. Currently I have 5 gold barbs, 3 cherry barbs and a black mystery snail, the aquarium is planted though I just started with live plants recently so they are still relatively small. Any thoughts on if I could add a showpiece fish or if I should leave it as is? I was considering a dwarf gourami once the plants mature a bit more. Thanks for your input!

 

[Luananeko]

My only concern about a dwarf gourami in that setup is that they need a bit warmer water than the gold barbs like... If I remember right gold barbs like it below 75F, while Dwarf Gourami prefer 78F+. Also, Cherry Barbs need groups of 5+, so I'd top off your current group.

What are the dimensions of your 20 gallon? Is it a long, high, or hex? If it's a high, the barbs and snail are about all I'd say you can fit once you add a couple more Cherry Barbs. Same goes for the hex. If it's a long you could fit one paradise fish as a centerpiece fish. They have similar personalities and colors to the dwarf gourami but prefer the cooler temps that the barbs like.

 

[kmny34]

I would up your cherrys to 5 and add a pair of kribensis to your tank or a pair of rams!!!

 

[Luananeko]

Rams and Kribs need much warmer water than the gold barbs will like, sadly... Otherwise they're usually my go-to recommendations for centerpiece fish.

 

[BASwitzer]

My cherry barbs really need a group of 5? The people at my local pet shop(privately owned, not a corporate store like petco) said that they're ok with a group of 3. They seem pretty happy as is but I can easily get two more if I should.

The aquarium is tall. I wanted a long but I got a really good deal on this tall one.

The temperature I've been keeping my aquarium steady at is 75°. From what I understand, gold barbs are ok with a pretty wide range of water conditions so a little warmer might not be terrible?

Thanks for responding!

 

[Luananeko]

Gold barbs are okay with a range, but the range they're comfortable in is a cooler range with 75 being the upper end. They can adapt to the warmer temps, but it will put their metabolism into overdrive and shorten their lifespans.

As for the Cherry Barbs, yes, they need 5 minimum and tend to be nervous if kept in smaller numbers. If you have a 20g high I wouldn't add any other fish once you top off the barb school since tall aquariums don't tend to support as much bioload as the longer tanks due to reduced gas exchange levels...

 

[BASwitzer]

That's kind of a shame. I had hoped for more variety but I think getting a few more cherry barbs would probably be the best thing. Do you think I should lower the temperature a couple degrees for my barbs?

 

[Luananeko]

75 should be fine. Cherry barbs prefer a slightly warmer range than the gold barbs, but 75 is in their range too. They should both be happy at that temp.

 

[Khuligirl93]

I think you could add some corys for the bottom level since you only have a snail. Pandas prefer cooler temps as well.
Although I really don't think it would be a big deal to keep a gourami in water that is 75 degrees. 3 degrees will not affect it that much. Perhaps different types of gouramis have different temp preferences- you could look into that.

http://www.liveaquaria.com/product/prod_display.cfm?c=830+882+974&pcatid=974

http://vines.hubpages.com/hub/Dwarf-gouramis-A-laymans-guide-to-care-and-breeding-of-dwarf-gouramis
(22 degrees C = 71 degrees F).

http://www.seriouslyfish.com/species/trichogaster-lalius/

These sites all indicate temps above 71 or 72 are fine for dwarf gouramis.

 

[Luananeko]

I think you could add some corys for the bottom level since you only have a snail. Pandas prefer cooler temps as well.
Although I really don't think it would be a big deal to keep a gourami in water that is 75 degrees. 3 degrees will not affect it that much. Perhaps different types of gouramis have different temp preferences- you could look into that.

While the gourami could adapt, the issue is that they get lethargic at the lower temps. While you could do it, they'd be pretty uninteresting centerpiece fish since they'd tend to just hide/hover and not show their full colors/personality.

Since he has a 20g high trying to fit another school or a centerpiece fish in the tank would be a bit much for the bioload imo. Otherwise a paradise fish would be a good fit for the rest of the stock.

 

[kmny34]

On liveaquaria.com it says that gold barbs can be in temps from 74-82!!!

 

[BASwitzer]

Yeah, I don't think I could manage keeping corys in a large enough group for them to be happy. Besides, my gold barbs generally keep to the lower portions of the tank and do a pretty good job of picking up after themselves. The cherry barbs usually stay just slightly higher in the water. That's why a gourami seemed appealing at first since they're labyrinth fish I know it would stay nearer to the top.

I saw the same thing on live aquaria but Shirlie Sharpe, who writes profiles on fish that I read quite often, agrees that the ideal temp for them is between 64-75°. She's probably the more reliable source, sometimes I think live aquaria is a bit off on things.

 

[Luananeko]

Yeah, I tend to err on the side of believing fish profile sites over live aquaria since their goal is to sell you fish... They tend to have quite a few copy/paste errors on their fish stats.

Here's where I was getting the temp range I was quoting: Gold Barb